A Black Mirror Sales Masterclass
Has anyone watched the new season of Black Mirror?? My attention was drawn to one character, Ms. GAYNOR, who is literally a Closer.
In Season 7, Ep. 1, "Common People", a married couple struggles after the wife, Amanda, suffers a horrific brain injury. A company called Rivermind sells the husband, Mike, on a brain implant that keeps Amanda alive, but devastates them financially. It's dark, but that's not why we're talking about it.
The RiverMind Sales rep, Gaynor, (Tracey Ellis Ross) is literally the face of evil. But she's also... a really good closer.
Let's break down her masterclass in closing:
First, she HOLDS THE FRAME OF EXPERT and then offers SOCIAL PROOF. She appears in a hospital room, chart in hand, iPad at the ready. She pops in right at the correct moment, when a doctor has briefed him on the Rivermind service, and he's the hottest lead possible.
"Mike" she says calmly. "I'm Gaynor, from Rivermind." She pauses. "Come with me". He follows her, (literally BUILDING THE YES LADDER).
"Rivermind is a revolution in neurological science. How it works is both high tech and incredibly simple". She speaks in expert language, and her perfectly russian manicured nails tap a diagram on the iPad. "We take an imprint of the affected part of her neural structure, and we clone it, ONTO our servers". Mike pauses, and she shifts from expert language to plain speak. "Basically, we make a backup"
When Mike objects about testing, she shifts to SOCIAL PROOF from her own life. "I am living proof." She shares her personal story of survival, building credibility and trust.
She returns to QBS, using her lifestyle proof to build rapport. "My kids say I'm the same pain in the ass!" They laugh together. "Do you have children?" She's casual. Calm. Perfect in her apricot blazer.
"Not yet" admits Mike, revealing his deepest pain point. "Been close a couple of times". He looks down. "Mike" she reengages his gaze, leaning forward, very close to him, as she builds out her pitch with its greatest point of value "this will give you time."
She moves to presumptive closing language: "So a couple things you need to know..." And when the price objection comes? She CONTINUES TO BUILD VALUE AND URGENCY.
"Seriously, it's less than you think- We're really trying to drive uptake...so, our pricing is really reasonable, and- the surgery is free". And for streaming, we run a subscription model so- it's 300 a month. And then she STFU.
"ok" CLOSED.